Dark Souls 2 Coming In March 2014

From Software will be releasing Dark Souls 2 in March of next year. The release window was revealed by a new billboard that just went up in Los Angeles.

The billboard, spotted by a NeoGAF user, is located near the Los Angeles Convention Center. Next week, the LACC will be hosting this year's E3 event. Guess this billboard means that Dark Souls 2 will have a big presence at the show. That's not surprising, as publisher Namco Bandai says they're going to market the game like a triple-A release.

Namco is developing the game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. A March 2014 release date means that the game will hit those consoles after their successors, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, are available in stores. That might seem peculiar but it's a prudent move. They'll be releasing the game on platforms owned by tens of millions of gamers, rather than entirely new platforms with an unknown amount of gamers. Sony made the same calculation with Gran Turismo 6, which will be launching on PS3 instead of PS4.

Could Dark Souls 2 be released on Xbox One and PS4 as well? Maybe. Many publishers announced next-gen versions of current-gen games, such as Battlefield 4 and Watch Dogs, as soon the PS4 and XB1 were revealed. However, I'd imagine some companies are waiting on this sort of news until E3.

Regardless of whether or not Namco announces a specific release date for the game or new platforms, E3 should be an exciting time for Dark Souls 2 fans. I assume we'll see more gameplay footage to build on last month's reveal.